


A Life For A Life

by thorkified



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Curses, Life Debt, M/M, Witchcraft, huntsman!Thor, witch!loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-13 00:32:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14738723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thorkified/pseuds/thorkified
Summary: A curse forces Thor to seek a witch's help, but the price to save him is not what he expected. Loki, a witch so powerful he can reveal Thor’s forgotten past, asks for only one thing in exchange: his life.





	A Life For A Life

When the man entered his hut, Loki could already smell the curse lingering in the air, dooming the man to a painful, torturous and slow death. It had been years since anyone came to him, but then again most of those that had come by had been even closer to death than they knew. Coming to Loki, the last witch in the northern forests, was a desperate act and rarely paid off. This man, however, sparked his interest.

“You are dying,” Loki stated coldly as he walked over to the stranger. He gripped his chin with his long, slender fingers, turning his head around to examine him. “You don't have much time left.”

“That's why I came to you.” The man's voice was melodic and dark and Loki smirked at the sound. “The villagers told me you were able to help me.”

“My help isn't free, it has a price,” Loki murmured, fingers slowly trailing along the man's jawline. “And it's more than most people can afford to pay.”

“I have money,” the man immediately said, as Loki had expected, and the witch laughed at the nativity he was faced with.

“Money won't get you anywhere,” Loki purred now, his voice husky and alluring and his smirk intensifying slightly. He ran his finger down the strangers throat, stopping right below his adam’s apple. “If you wish to save your life you have to give me what's most valuable to you.”

The man looked at Loki in surprise and swallowed.

“I know what it is,” the witch laughed and tilted his head amused. “Do you?”

“The most valuable to me…” the strangers voice trailed off and his eyes became dull, not looking at Loki anymore.

The witch smiled, stepping away from the other to let his spell do the work. He would soon come to a conclusion and Loki was patient. He knew all he needed to know already. The handsome stranger was a huntsman that had encountered a vengeful spirit a week ago that had infected him with this nasty curse and he had been trying to find a way to lift it ever since. He was brave, strong and strong-willed, but he had a flaw all the others Loki had encountered hadn't. This man had heart. And that was what intrigued the witch.

“So, tell me,” Loki said after giving the other a few minutes to think. “What is the most valuable to you?”

“My life…” the man replied, more a question than an actual answer, and Loki smiled.

“Precisely,” he nodded. “Your life for your life, isn't that a good price?”

“Excuse me, but I think I will leave now,” the man suddenly said and frowned. He reached for the door behind him to open it, but the door was gone and Loki let out a quiet chuckle before walking over to him again. The man looked at him with wide blue eyes, fear clearly visible on his face now.

“You misunderstood me,” Loki smiled and laid a hand on the others chest, gently but strongly pushing him against the now solid and unmoving wall. “I will save your life, don't worry.”

“But if the price is my life, what will you do then?”

Loki leaned forward, pressing his cold lips against the man's tenderly. The fear disappeared and confusion replaced it and when Loki pulled back his green eyes pierced through his.

“You will be mine,” Loki whispered, brushing his fingers over the other’s lips. “You are still on your journey to find what you are searching for and when you did, you will come back to me for the rest of your life.”

“H-how do you know that?”

“I know everything about you, huntsman,” Loki smiled mischievously. “Your wishes, your desires, your fears…”

“Will you let me leave without knowing if I will come back?”

“Oh, you will. And I will let you leave,” Loki smirked. “No harm will come to you, I will make sure of that. But, if you betray me or try to harm me in any way, I will take what's mine without hesitating.”

“My life...”

Loki nodded silently and walked away from the man to prepare the removal of the curse, knowing full well that he would get what he wanted. For a few minutes the man just stood there in silence, before eventually coming closer and Loki looked up.

“You said you know everything, do you know my name too?” he asked and Loki raised a brow. He didn't expect this question, nor did he expect to not have an answer to it.

“You don't know it yourself, do you?” Loki asked and the man shook his head. That was interesting. 

He let go of his preparations for a moment and stepped up to the stranger again. Carefully, he pressed his palms against the man's temples and closed his eyes. After a moment, the crystal he wore around his neck began to glow weakly, a green, vibrant color that began to brighten as Loki mumbled words in a language the man couldn't understand. It didn't take longer than a minute before Loki slowly opened his eyes again and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

“You forgot who you are, but the knowledge is still there, hidden beneath your gruesome past and the blood on your hands,” Loki murmured, his voice a soft melody filled with adoration. “Thor. That is your name. Thor, named after the god of thunder himself, an impressive name for an impressive man.”

“Thor…” the man whispered, his face slowly reflecting that the name brought back memories. He covered the witch’s hands with his own and sunk to his knees, pulling Loki with him and just sat there for a long time.

“You have lost more than anyone could beat without breaking.” Loki spoke reassuringly, calm and soft. “Your heart is stronger than a mountain and with it, you will find what you are searching for.”

At this, Thor looked up again, back into Loki's eyes.

“I remember now…” he said quietly, his eyes shimmering. “I remember everything… I… I remember  _ her _ …”

“And you will see her again,” Loki smiled and kissed Thor's lips once more; tender and gently. “I will protect you with my magic and you will find her.”

“Is she alive? Is my sister alive?”

“If she is only half as strong as you are, I know she is. Now come, we have little time to lift the curse and you have to leave.”

When all was done and Loki had lifted the curse, he guided Thor outside again. They had not talked much, but there was no need for words. Loki took the crystal from around his neck and draped it around Thor’s, a hand covering the black stone as it laid on the other’s skin.

“It will protect you on your journey,” he explained, earning a nod in return. “As long as you have it nothing will happen to you. Now find her and then return to me.”

“I will,” Thor said and, much to Loki's surprise, kissed him carefully. It was almost a shy gesture, but Loki could feel that it was sincere. “I promise, I will return to you.”

As he watched Thor leave and disappear into the forest, Loki felt a warmth in his chest for the first time in centuries. Humans, especially those who had come for his help in the past, had always disgusted him. There was a reason he lived hidden in the deepest part of the forest and that the villagers only spoke his name in hushed whispers and fear. They knew how powerful he was and that he was not one to mess with, something they had learned the hard way in the past.

Thor, however, was different than them. What Loki had seen in his memories had been dark, darker than even his own past, but his heart was the purest and strongest Loki had encountered in a human yet. That he had forgotten might have protected him from becoming like the rest, but Loki didn't believe it was only that. There was something else, something he had yet to figure out and the idea of this fascinated him. There weren't many things he didn't understand and Thor was one of them. And he wanted to understand him, more than he admitted to himself.

Centuries of solitude turned Loki cold and seemingly heartless, but he knew his heart still existed because he could feel it now. Quiet, as if it had been woken up from a long slumber, it was beating in his chest and without an explanation why, Loki knew it beat in sync with Thor’s. He laid a hand over it, feeling the steady rhythm and smiled. 

“Come back to me,” Loki whispered, surprised that after all this time he could mean such words as much as he did now. His silver tongue and magic were powerless against this one, simple truth: he genuinely cared about this human. As unbelievable as it was, Loki knew it was true.

“Find her and come back to me. Not because you promised your life to me, but because you want to…”


End file.
